Mask and Braids
by animeisheart
Summary: Before they became students of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, Karma and Manami had already encountered each other when they were in their 6th year in elementary, just before entering junior high school. This was when Karma was still a diligent and obedient student and when Manami was still not wearing braids. Karmanami/ Karma&Okuda :)
1. Chapter 1

The students settled down in their respective seats as soon as Koro-sensei entered the room. Koro-sensei was greeted warmly with lots of bullets and knives. As expected, the teacher was able to dodge all of them.

"Now, class, we will be having a reflection activity," Koro-sensei said with his signature grin on his face.

"Reflection activity?" Okano questioned.

"Exactly! I want all of you to think of a person who made a great impact in your life. This activity will help you reminisce the past and will help you realize how much you've grown." Koro-sensei said. "This is going to be an individual activity. I will be asking you about it later at 4pm and you will be submitting an essay tomorrow."

During their lunch time, everyone was chatting with one another regarding the said activity.

"Nagisa, who are you going to tell Koro-sensei?" Sugino asked.

"Hmm. Probably the director of my favorite movie. He's been doing lots of movies that gave impact to my life," replied Nagisa.

"I'll tell him about my favorite baseball player. Ever since I was in elementary, I've always admired him for his baseball skills." Sugino said confidently.

Overhearing their conversation, Manami approached the two.

"How about you, Okuda?" greeted Sugino.

"Umm, I'm still undecided. B-because I don't exactly know what's his name" Manami said shyly.

"I guess it's alright. As long as that person made a great impact in your life." Nagisa said.

Before afternoon classes started, Karma Akabane arrived at their classroom. He was greeted by Koro-sensei who was trying to scold him for skipping morning classes. However, Karma didn't pay much attention to their teacher and approached Manami, Nagisa, and Sugino. Koro-sensei, who was completely ignored by Karma, went back to the faculty room and sulked.

"Why is the class so noisy?" Karma asked while looking around. The three explained Koro-sensei's activity to the red-haired.

"So who is the person who made a great impact to your life, Karma-kun?" Nagisa asked.

"Well, I was thinking of the director of Sonic Ninja. But since you picked him already, I guess I'll think of someone else," Karma said nonchalantly. "By the way, Okuda-san, let's meet later at the science laboratory. I want to create a poison for our next assassination attempt." Manami smiled and nodded in agreement.

When it was 4pm already, the students were individually interviewed by Koro-sensei. When Manami was finished with the interview, she rushed towards the science laboratory and met Karma.

"You're here early," Karma greeted.

"Well, I was f-finished with the interview. And now I'm excited to make another chemical," Manami replied. Karma smirked and showed her a list of chemical formula that she will be needing to create the chemical. Karma assisted the bespectacled girl in creating the poison. He volunteered to heat the chemical to ensure Manami's safety since it's a very harmful chemical.

"You seemed cheerful today rather than usual, Okuda-san. So who's this person who made a great impact in your life?" Karma questioned.

"I-Is that so? Um, I don't know his name. Not even his face," Manami replied.

"It doesn't matter if you know the person or not. As long as he is a remarkable person for you. The person that I told Koro-sensei is my mother. After all, she's the one who always takes care of me. Since I shared mine, you should tell me yours, too" Karma said while teasing Manami.

"Th-that's unfair, Karma-kun. B-But ok then." Manami replied timidly as she handed a piece of paper to Karma.

"Woah. You're so motivated, Okuda-san. You're even done with the homework" Karma teased as he started reading Manami's essay:

Everyone in our class knows that I always style my hair with twin braids. This is because a certain person told me to do so. The person who made an impact to my life was also a student in the elementary school that I attended. I do not know his know and I wasn't able to see his face. It was during our school festival when I met him. I was about to go to the science hall when three girls cornered me and started bullying me. They made fun of my thick, wavy hair and eyeglasses. When they saw my science research, they were about to tear it pieces when someone stopped him. The girls were ready to run away but before leaving, they sprayed pepper spray near my eyes, making me unable to see the surroundings. That's when a person approached me. He asked me if I was alright. I nodded in agreement even though I am in pain due to the effect of the pepper spray. He helped me stood up and immediately accompanied me to the clinic. While we were walking towards the clinic, I told him that those girls are bullying me because of my thick and wavy hair. Upon hearing his, he told me that I should style my hair so that those bullies wouldn't make fun of my hair anymore. Before leaving me to the nurse, he handed me my science research. He said that he managed to stop the girls from tearing it to pieces. I thanked him for saving my science research. It was very valuable to me.

When the pepper spray's effect wore off, I immediately searched for him. I asked the nurse about the person who accompanied me but the nurse said that the student was in a rush at that time and left the clinic. The nurse said that the student, who was wearing a mask,immediately left since their class will be performing a class play for the school festival. I was disheartened when I wasn't able to properly thank him for everything. I tried searching for him even after the school festival but I wasn't able to. I allotted my time before graduation in search for him, but I wasn't successful. But to express my gratitude, I followed his advice and styled my hair with twin braids everyday. I might look nerdy, but it's alright. His advice helped me a lot of impact and even until now, I've always worn twin braids. Meeting him gave a great impact in my life because of his advice and because of his kindness. Only a few students in our school would treat me nicely.

"This is a nice story Okuda-san," Karma complimented her after he finished reading Manami's assignment.

"Th-thank you." replied Manami as she tried to cover her blushing face. Karma smirked and said, "Well, let's get going. The chemical is ready. Tomorrow, we will be having another assassination attempt."

The two started walking home. Karma patted Manami's head as his way of saying thank you to the petite girl. When Karma arrived at his room, he went to his room and opened a box in his cabinet. After minutes of searching, he was able to find the object that he was looking for. It was a mask that he once used for their class play for their school festival.

"So she was that bespectacled girl that I saved from the bullies when we were in elementary. I didn't realized that it was her since she was wearing braids. No wonder that among the girls, she the easiest one to talk to," Karma said while holding the mask and reminiscing their first encounter.


	2. Lie, Mask, and Braids - part 2

**Author's note** : Due to some readers asking me for another chapter, I finally decided to make a second chapter. It's my first time to create a story with more than one chapters. Thank you for your reviews and thank you to animeandmangafangirl for giving me clear instructions. Enjoy more Karmanami! :)

For a few minutes, she's been running through the school hallways. She keeps on chasing someone. When the cloaked person stopped walking, she was only a few feet away when someone sprayed some pepper spray near her eyes.

*Ring, ring*

The next thing Manami Okuda knew was being awakened by her alarm clock. She immediately stopped it and got up. "That dream was somehow like a nightmare", she said to herself as she washed her face. She started preparing to go to school. When she was about to go out, she suddenly remembered something.

"I almost forgot to bring my homework!", she said as she run upstairs towards her bedroom. She held the piece of paper and put it inside her bag. As soon as she arrived at their classroom, she was greeted by her friends Kayano and Kanzaki.

"Good morning, Manami-chan!", greeted the cheerful, green-haired girl.

"Good morning, Kayano-chan, Kanzaki-san!"

Kanzaki greeted them with a smile.

"Koro-sensei asked me to collect all our homework.", Kayano said. The two ladies submitted their papers to Kayano. While they were chatting with each other, Manami noticed that Karma Akabane was still not around.

"It's almost time for classes. Is Karma-kun still not around?", asked the bespectacled girl.

"That's rare of you to ask, Manami-chan. Besides, Karma usually comes to class late", Kayano replied.

"I-is that so?", Manami replied while looking at the ground.

Throughout the whole day, Manami keeps on checking her watch. She never thought that she could be very time conscious. She's also aware that one of the backseats of the classroom is not occupied. Classes for the day ended and Karma didn't show up. Manami went to the science laboratory to create some deadly poisons.

"The science laboratory feels empty now that he is not present", Manami said to herself. She's not used to working alone in the laboratory. Usually, whenever their waiting for a few minutes for a poison to be made, they would discuss their plans for assassination and for pranks. But now, she's dealing with the deafening silence in the absence of her assassination partner. As soon as she was able to create a new chemical, she started cleaning things up and walked home.

"That's strange. I'm no longer used to going home alone. Karma-kun has always accompanied me. It's sad that he's not here.", she said to herself.

The next day, Karma Akabane didn't come to class again. This time, Manami felt uncomfortable. She's bothered by the thought of it. The whole class has observed that she's been looking at the windows during free time and she has been checking her watch. Everyone in class, except her, is aware that she is very worried.

Once the classes ended, Koro-sensei approached Manami.

"Okuda-san, I know that you are extremely worried with Karma-kun's absences. He's probably not feeling well and at home right now. If you have free time, please visit him and give these to him.", Koro-sensei told the chemistry-loving girl.

"Sensei, h-how did you know that Karma-kun is n-not feeling well?", Manami asked with a concerned look.

"As a teacher, it is my duty to check on my students. Karma-kun might skip classes a lot but for 2 days of not going to class, I believe that he is not going to school because he doesn't want to. In that case, I believe that he's not feeling well." , Koro-sensei further expained.

"I'll be going now, Sensei," Manami replied and took the envelopes filled with hand-outs and a get-well-soon-cake from Koro-sensei.

Manami was practically running down the mountain to get to Karma's house as fast as possible. She knocked several times at the front door before deciding to enter the Akabane residence.

"Pardon the intrusion. Karma-kun? Are you here?", Manami shouted. Before she could take another step, she heard several footsteps going down the stairs.

"Okuda-san, what's the matter? Is something wrong? It's rare to see you here", Karma greeted.

"U-um. Koro-sensei asked me to visit you. I'm-I-I mean we, we are all worried about you.", Manami said as she handed him the cake and the envelope.

"Thanks Okuda-san.", Karma smiled.

Manami touched Karma's forehead. He had a fever and he caught a cold. Koro-sensei was right. Indeed, Karma was not feeling well.

"Karma-kun, I'll take care of you. Please go back to your bedroom. I'll cook supper and bring you medicine. Please stay in bed", Manami told the red-haired boy. Karma nodded weakly. He can't believe that her timid friend is very concerned to him. He went upstairs and tucked himself to bed.

After half an hour, Manami went upstairs and took care of him. She fed him and asked him to drink some medicine. Once finished, she tucked him to bed. Manami decided to stay for a while before heading home. While looking at the pile of books on his study desk, Manami noticed a family picture. She reached for it and observed it.

"It must be his family picture when he was still a child.", she told herself.

"That's my family picture. My only family picture. That photo was taken before... nevermind.", Karma interrupted. Manami apologized for getting the picture without his permission.

"It's alright. Actually, what I told you and what I wrote on that homework was a lie. My mother was not remarkable to me at all. She never cared for me. The only thing that I can remember was my parents divorcing and leaving me alone here. Every month they would send me money but I didn't care for that. The only memory I have of a family is that picture. That was taken before a stage play that I performed in my former school.", Karma said. After a while, Karma fell asleep.

"I never thought that he has such a sad past. Not being able to experience having loving parents must have been really hard for him. Still, I can't believe that he was open to tell me about his past", Manami said to herself while putting a warm towel on his forehead.

"His fever has gone down a bit. He still needs to rest", Manami said to herself before heading out to go downstairs. Her eyes caught sight of a very familiar mask. Her eyes widened as soon as she realized that Karma was the boy who helped him when she was bullied in elementary. He was the masked-guy who defended her from the bullies and suggested to her to braid her hair so that she will not be bullied by her thick and curly hair. He was the boy whom she searched for in order to thank him for his good acts.

"So all this time, that remarkable person has always been by my side!", she told herself. Before leaving the bedroom, Manami said,"Good night, Karma-kun!"

The next day, everyone was glad that Karma attended classes again. When he was asked if he was not feeling well for the past days, he lied and said that he just doesn't want to go to school. When he saw Manami, he walked towards her with his signature smirk in his face and thanked her for taking care of him.

"You're welcome, Karma-kun! I-I should actually be the one who should be saying thank you", Manami said cheerfully. She was referring to thanking Karma for saving her back then. Although Karma doesn't understand why Manami should be the one to thank her, he just smirked. Before going back to his seat, he first went to the faculty room and handed a sheet of paper to Koro-sensei. The paper has words written on it:

Sorry the contents of my homework was a lie. But, the person who knows why it was a lie is the person who is very remarkable to me.


End file.
